Paris (CDG) to Réunion (RUN), Air Austra, Réunion trip report, April 2015
Jul 28, 2015, 7:34 am
#16
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Grantham, NH
Posts: 530
One of the best scenery spots on all of Reunion is a spot called Le Maïdo, which nominally has a great view of both the Cirque de Mafate and the Western Slope looking down towards the Indian Ocean.
But like most scenic vistas on Reunion, you are always fighting the weather. The recommendation is to get to Le Maïdo before the clouds close in, leaving early. Well, we left our hotel at 7:30, and since Le Maïdo is only 9.6 km away (remember, the island isn't that much larger than Rhode Island, so most everything is pretty close as far as map distance goes). Well, the road to Le Maïdo served as one of our better lessons about the rural roads of Reunion (the previous day's trip to Dos D'anes was no slouch, either).
The slopes on the island are impressive; to get from Ermitage-les-Bains to Le Maïdo, it is a horizontal distance of 9.5 km, but a vertical change of over 2.3 km, giving an average road grade of an impressive 24%. To counteract the slope, the route is indirect, taking over 40 km to do the route. At that, the route still has an impressive number of switchbacks, some of them very steep:
Here's the Google Earth view:
And here's a good example of "Le Switchback"[1]. If you live in a flat area, make sure you practice your uphill shifting before arriving!
That said, compared to later roads, this was *nothing*...
[1] Actually, this one is easy: the road even has a shoulder. Most of the hill roads have zero shoulder and a large, 2' deep drainage ditch on one or both sides of the road.
But like most scenic vistas on Reunion, you are always fighting the weather. The recommendation is to get to Le Maïdo before the clouds close in, leaving early. Well, we left our hotel at 7:30, and since Le Maïdo is only 9.6 km away (remember, the island isn't that much larger than Rhode Island, so most everything is pretty close as far as map distance goes). Well, the road to Le Maïdo served as one of our better lessons about the rural roads of Reunion (the previous day's trip to Dos D'anes was no slouch, either).
The slopes on the island are impressive; to get from Ermitage-les-Bains to Le Maïdo, it is a horizontal distance of 9.5 km, but a vertical change of over 2.3 km, giving an average road grade of an impressive 24%. To counteract the slope, the route is indirect, taking over 40 km to do the route. At that, the route still has an impressive number of switchbacks, some of them very steep:
Here's the Google Earth view:
And here's a good example of "Le Switchback"[1]. If you live in a flat area, make sure you practice your uphill shifting before arriving!
That said, compared to later roads, this was *nothing*...
[1] Actually, this one is easy: the road even has a shoulder. Most of the hill roads have zero shoulder and a large, 2' deep drainage ditch on one or both sides of the road.
Jul 28, 2015, 7:35 am
#17
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Grantham, NH
Posts: 530
Due to the long and twisty, slow drive, arriving at Le Maïdo a 9am, we were already losing the battle with the clouds. When we started up the Western Slope, we had a great view of the Indian Ocean, but by 9am, it was clouding over (we'd regain some of the view later when the clouds rose even higher):
Here's the lookout at Le Maïdo (note the clouds filling in the area off the cliff to the right):
That said, the view into Cirque de Mafate, between the clouds, was incredible. You can even see the remote village of La Nouvelle here (one of the only-accessible-via-foot-and-helicopter villages):
And 20 minutes later, the last of the Cirque disappeared into the clouds:
Here's the lookout at Le Maïdo (note the clouds filling in the area off the cliff to the right):
That said, the view into Cirque de Mafate, between the clouds, was incredible. You can even see the remote village of La Nouvelle here (one of the only-accessible-via-foot-and-helicopter villages):
And 20 minutes later, the last of the Cirque disappeared into the clouds:
Jul 28, 2015, 7:36 am
#18
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Grantham, NH
Posts: 530
And here's one of my great pleasures of Réunion: the roadside fruit stands.
All over the island, people are selling fruit from either organized roadside stands, or often just from their house (like a pile of pineapples on a lawn chair with a sign and a bucket for the money).
The pricing was outstanding. This is what 1.25 euros (~$1.60) bought me on the way down from Le Maido:
And the really delightful thing is that that the bananas and the pineapple are very different cultivars than their American counterparts.
The pineapple is a "Victoria" pineapple, smaller, more yellow, and with serrated leaves, I found them to be sweeter, softer (even the core is quite easy to eat and flavorful), and richer in flavor than your typical Hawaiian pineapple (even pineapples I got in Hawaii). These pineapples are easily one of the distinctive things I already miss about Réunion (you could buy these pineapples in Paris.... for about 12 euros each!)
These bananas are also a distinctly different cultivar of banana than the standard US "Cavendish" banana: smaller, sweeter, darker interior, and completely self-ripening.
Add in a delicious dragon fruit, and you quickly discover why having a pocket knife and spoon on you is important when traveling about the island:
I really miss the fruit.
All over the island, people are selling fruit from either organized roadside stands, or often just from their house (like a pile of pineapples on a lawn chair with a sign and a bucket for the money).
The pricing was outstanding. This is what 1.25 euros (~$1.60) bought me on the way down from Le Maido:
And the really delightful thing is that that the bananas and the pineapple are very different cultivars than their American counterparts.
The pineapple is a "Victoria" pineapple, smaller, more yellow, and with serrated leaves, I found them to be sweeter, softer (even the core is quite easy to eat and flavorful), and richer in flavor than your typical Hawaiian pineapple (even pineapples I got in Hawaii). These pineapples are easily one of the distinctive things I already miss about Réunion (you could buy these pineapples in Paris.... for about 12 euros each!)
These bananas are also a distinctly different cultivar of banana than the standard US "Cavendish" banana: smaller, sweeter, darker interior, and completely self-ripening.
Add in a delicious dragon fruit, and you quickly discover why having a pocket knife and spoon on you is important when traveling about the island:
I really miss the fruit.
Jul 28, 2015, 7:37 am
#20
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Grantham, NH
Posts: 530
After leaving Hermitage-Les-Bains, we drove up yet another winding road to "La Fenetre" ("The Window"), a notch in the rim of the Cirque de Cilaos that offers a stunning view into that Cirque (much like Le Maido offered a view into Cirque de Mafate).
The cirque is particularly rugged, and accessible only by foot, or by the extremely windy N5 road so until fairly modern times, these were remote villages primarily inhabited by Creole descendants of runaway slaves. But the view is absolutely phenomenal.
The tall mountain in the background is the highest point in Reunion, the Piton des Neiges ("Snow Peak"), at just over 10,000 ft (3070m), our destination for our planned hike.
(Like always, click on these to go to Flickr to see the full version):
There are three towns in the Cirque de Cilaos: Îlet à Cordes, Cilaos, and Palmiste Rouge.
These are among the most remote villages on the island. Here's Îlet à Cordes, known for its vineyards and fields of lentils:
Here's Cilaos itself, a charming little mountain village:
And here's the small village of Palmiste Rouge, where we stayed at a Gîte (guest house):
The cirque is particularly rugged, and accessible only by foot, or by the extremely windy N5 road so until fairly modern times, these were remote villages primarily inhabited by Creole descendants of runaway slaves. But the view is absolutely phenomenal.
The tall mountain in the background is the highest point in Reunion, the Piton des Neiges ("Snow Peak"), at just over 10,000 ft (3070m), our destination for our planned hike.
(Like always, click on these to go to Flickr to see the full version):
There are three towns in the Cirque de Cilaos: Îlet à Cordes, Cilaos, and Palmiste Rouge.
These are among the most remote villages on the island. Here's Îlet à Cordes, known for its vineyards and fields of lentils:
Here's Cilaos itself, a charming little mountain village:
And here's the small village of Palmiste Rouge, where we stayed at a Gîte (guest house):
Jul 28, 2015, 7:37 am
#21
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Grantham, NH
Posts: 530
However, getting to Cilaos is one of the most interesting and challenging drives I've ever done.
On an island already infamous for it's many steep and winding roads, the N5, leading from Ilet Palmistes to Cilaos in the Cirque de Cilaos, is the granddaddy of them all.
The road is only approximately 20 km long, but that 20 km of driving involves over 2000 m of elevation gain and loss, over 600 turns (most of them in the 400+ switchbacks), two one-lane tunnels, several one-lane segments, dozens of blind corners, narrow shoulders, and other driving challenges. The road is so twisty that in a few places it even loops back over itself!
It truly is one of the most challenging, and most impressive, drives I've ever done (especially at night!).
Alas, photos are so difficult to do, that here I'm giving the Google Earth and Maps views:
Here's a view of one of the few parts of the N5 that can be seen from La Fenetre, where the road literally curves back over itself:
On an island already infamous for it's many steep and winding roads, the N5, leading from Ilet Palmistes to Cilaos in the Cirque de Cilaos, is the granddaddy of them all.
The road is only approximately 20 km long, but that 20 km of driving involves over 2000 m of elevation gain and loss, over 600 turns (most of them in the 400+ switchbacks), two one-lane tunnels, several one-lane segments, dozens of blind corners, narrow shoulders, and other driving challenges. The road is so twisty that in a few places it even loops back over itself!
It truly is one of the most challenging, and most impressive, drives I've ever done (especially at night!).
Alas, photos are so difficult to do, that here I'm giving the Google Earth and Maps views:
Here's a view of one of the few parts of the N5 that can be seen from La Fenetre, where the road literally curves back over itself:
Jul 28, 2015, 7:38 am
#22
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Grantham, NH
Posts: 530
Most of the "hotels" in Réunion are in the major cities, so once we left Hermitage-Les-Bains, almost all of our remaining lodging on Réunion consisted of various gîtes. The “gîte” is a bit of a French-specific concept, but it basically means “guest house”, and the concepts ranges ranges from simple “gîtes a la montagne” (mountain huts providing little more than a meal, a bunk, and a blanket), to nicer “gîtes rural” (simple guest rooms), to elaborate Chambre d’Hôtes” which are like fancy bed and breakfasts. In Palmiste Rouge we stayed at a pretty good example of a “gîte rural”: Domaine Papangue, a beautiful home in the mountains of Cirque de Cilaos, which was outfitted with a small guest house with four very simple bunkrooms, a pool, and an excellent view (a product of a most adventuresome drive down the canyons and back roads of Palmiste Rouge).
Domaine Papangue also had splendid hosts, who cooked us a fabulous dinner, taught us a bit about the island’s culture Creole cuisine (despite a modest language barrier), gave us hiking advice (of the cautionary sort, “Can I see your route on a map? Seems tres sportif! Are you sure?”), and even let us leave some luggage with them while we hiked. And, in what was a rather common occurrence throughout our Réunion travels, marveled at the fact that we were Americans, since Americans almost never show up in Cilaos.
Every night, Domaine Papangue offers up a dinner to guests, and it’s rather a treat. We were the only guests, so they Starting around 4pm after offering us up some mint tea, our hosts were then spotted bounding about the property collecting various fresh herbs and vegetables for dinner: verbena, rosemary, mango, guava, and a unique one to us, “tomate arbuste”, or bush tomato, a thicker-skinned cousin to our tomato. And then for the next few hours quite a few pleasant aromas kept emerging from their kitchen. Indeed, one of the things I already miss about Réunion is that, if you are in any sort of residential area around 6pm in the evening, you are constantly bombarded with the smells of everyone cooking up various carris in their (usually open-air) kitchens.
Since we were the only guests that night, our hosts joined us for dinner, and carefully explained each course to us. They explained that since we were relatively new to the island, they were serving us what they’d normal cook for themselves on a normal night, the standard Creole dinner: a carri, a rougail, lentils, and rice. And I’ll have to say, the carri poulet served up to us at Domaine Papangue was easily one of the most enjoyable carris we had on the island: rich, flavorful chunks (and I mean chunks, the standard Creole way of butchering is basically hacking up the chicken with a machete) of a very dark meat, open-grazed chicken, simmered down in a rich tomato sauce just teeming with cardamom, thyme, and rosemany, and even a bit of cinnamon. Unlike a lot of other places we dined, the rougail here was on the sweeter end of the spectrum, made primary from mangos and the tomate arbust, for a rich, tangy, and slightly sweet addition that paired very nicely with the rice, lentils, and carri.
The lentils were also worth talking about: despite the extremely hilly, heck, mountainous terrain of Cilaos, one of their major activities in the area is farming, and one of the major product is lentils: if you know where to look, there are entire hillsides covered with short little lentil plants. And the small, compact lentils (very similar to the lentilles du Puy of mainland France) are a particularly pleasant product: compact and flavorful with a distinct nutty flavor. And if there is one thing I learned from almost every restaurant and gîte in Réunion, it’s that I need to refine my bean cooking skills, since these lentils were prepared just to the point of not quite falling apart, served up in a wonderful savory sauce.
Dessert was also nice: a sweet potato cake also packed full of spices and herbs. This meal was definitely one where I realized that, with the notable exception of rice, Réunion has a surprisingly diverse and largely self-sufficient agricultural system: the primary foods eaten on the island are, substantially, grown and harvested on the island (as we would see several days later over in Saint-Benoit, they’ve got some wonderful farmers markets as well).
Add in the extremely wonderful hospitality of our hosts (who gave us much advice about the area, were very patient with our language gap, and even let us store some of our luggage while we were hiking), and Domaine Papangue is definitely on our repeat visit list.
Domaine Papangue also had splendid hosts, who cooked us a fabulous dinner, taught us a bit about the island’s culture Creole cuisine (despite a modest language barrier), gave us hiking advice (of the cautionary sort, “Can I see your route on a map? Seems tres sportif! Are you sure?”), and even let us leave some luggage with them while we hiked. And, in what was a rather common occurrence throughout our Réunion travels, marveled at the fact that we were Americans, since Americans almost never show up in Cilaos.
Every night, Domaine Papangue offers up a dinner to guests, and it’s rather a treat. We were the only guests, so they Starting around 4pm after offering us up some mint tea, our hosts were then spotted bounding about the property collecting various fresh herbs and vegetables for dinner: verbena, rosemary, mango, guava, and a unique one to us, “tomate arbuste”, or bush tomato, a thicker-skinned cousin to our tomato. And then for the next few hours quite a few pleasant aromas kept emerging from their kitchen. Indeed, one of the things I already miss about Réunion is that, if you are in any sort of residential area around 6pm in the evening, you are constantly bombarded with the smells of everyone cooking up various carris in their (usually open-air) kitchens.
Since we were the only guests that night, our hosts joined us for dinner, and carefully explained each course to us. They explained that since we were relatively new to the island, they were serving us what they’d normal cook for themselves on a normal night, the standard Creole dinner: a carri, a rougail, lentils, and rice. And I’ll have to say, the carri poulet served up to us at Domaine Papangue was easily one of the most enjoyable carris we had on the island: rich, flavorful chunks (and I mean chunks, the standard Creole way of butchering is basically hacking up the chicken with a machete) of a very dark meat, open-grazed chicken, simmered down in a rich tomato sauce just teeming with cardamom, thyme, and rosemany, and even a bit of cinnamon. Unlike a lot of other places we dined, the rougail here was on the sweeter end of the spectrum, made primary from mangos and the tomate arbust, for a rich, tangy, and slightly sweet addition that paired very nicely with the rice, lentils, and carri.
The lentils were also worth talking about: despite the extremely hilly, heck, mountainous terrain of Cilaos, one of their major activities in the area is farming, and one of the major product is lentils: if you know where to look, there are entire hillsides covered with short little lentil plants. And the small, compact lentils (very similar to the lentilles du Puy of mainland France) are a particularly pleasant product: compact and flavorful with a distinct nutty flavor. And if there is one thing I learned from almost every restaurant and gîte in Réunion, it’s that I need to refine my bean cooking skills, since these lentils were prepared just to the point of not quite falling apart, served up in a wonderful savory sauce.
Dessert was also nice: a sweet potato cake also packed full of spices and herbs. This meal was definitely one where I realized that, with the notable exception of rice, Réunion has a surprisingly diverse and largely self-sufficient agricultural system: the primary foods eaten on the island are, substantially, grown and harvested on the island (as we would see several days later over in Saint-Benoit, they’ve got some wonderful farmers markets as well).
Add in the extremely wonderful hospitality of our hosts (who gave us much advice about the area, were very patient with our language gap, and even let us store some of our luggage while we were hiking), and Domaine Papangue is definitely on our repeat visit list.
Jul 28, 2015, 7:39 am
#23
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Grantham, NH
Posts: 530
As part of our trip, we decided to take a several-day hiking trip in the mountains of Réunion. One of the classic hikes is doing the Piton des Neiges, the extinct volcano that forms the center of Réunion's cirques and is also, at 3000m/10,700 ft, the highest peak on the island. The standard technique is to break the hike in two: first hike up to the Gite du Caverne duFour for the night, and then get up at 4am and hike the remaining 600m to the summit to catch sunrise.
The trail, however, is designed by the same people that designed the roads: steep, narrow, and having lots and lots of switchbacks. Gaining 1100 meters over the course of just 2500 meters makes this almost a staircase into the clouds:
Did I say "almost a staircase?" Actually, mostly a staircase:
One of the great things about hiking on Reunion is that most of the plant life is very different. Between 1500 and 2000 m, for example, there's a lot of hanging moss.
Interestingly, this moss stuck to stuff, and you'd even see bits of it on the ground well above tree line:
And a lot of subtropical overgrowth as well:
But relatively quickly, we found ourselves in a thinning forest with views back down to Cilaos:
The trail, however, is designed by the same people that designed the roads: steep, narrow, and having lots and lots of switchbacks. Gaining 1100 meters over the course of just 2500 meters makes this almost a staircase into the clouds:
Did I say "almost a staircase?" Actually, mostly a staircase:
One of the great things about hiking on Reunion is that most of the plant life is very different. Between 1500 and 2000 m, for example, there's a lot of hanging moss.
Interestingly, this moss stuck to stuff, and you'd even see bits of it on the ground well above tree line:
And a lot of subtropical overgrowth as well:
But relatively quickly, we found ourselves in a thinning forest with views back down to Cilaos:
Jul 28, 2015, 7:39 am
#24
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Grantham, NH
Posts: 530
After 4 hours of climbing, we finally arrive at the rim of the Cirque, and could look over at our home for the next night: Gite de la Caverne Dufour.
Anyone that has been to an AMC Hut in New Hampshire, this was almost identical to an AMC Hut:
While rustic, our 15 Euro/night accomodations were quite warm and cozy:
Most importantly, the Gite offers dinner. And it was quite a filling dinner, with two different carris (one chicken, one swordfish), rice, piment, and some of the most delicious and tender lima beans I've ever had.
After a day of hiking, half of it in the rain, this was a very pleasant and filling dinner:
(Note the rum punch at upper right)
Anyone that has been to an AMC Hut in New Hampshire, this was almost identical to an AMC Hut:
While rustic, our 15 Euro/night accomodations were quite warm and cozy:
Most importantly, the Gite offers dinner. And it was quite a filling dinner, with two different carris (one chicken, one swordfish), rice, piment, and some of the most delicious and tender lima beans I've ever had.
After a day of hiking, half of it in the rain, this was a very pleasant and filling dinner:
(Note the rum punch at upper right)
Jul 28, 2015, 7:40 am
#25
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Grantham, NH
Posts: 530
So, the best way to get a good view from the summit of Piton des Neiges is to watch the sunrise from the summit.
That of course means getting up very, very early (4am is the usual departure time), and hiking up the very rough and tumble trail by flashlight (the trail was gnarly enough that our reaction upon walking down later in the morning was "we hiked up that?!")
But the resulting sunrise was awesome:
We weren't the only ones, either. Between people that spent the night up there, and the early morning hikers, there were almost 50 people up there:
That of course means getting up very, very early (4am is the usual departure time), and hiking up the very rough and tumble trail by flashlight (the trail was gnarly enough that our reaction upon walking down later in the morning was "we hiked up that?!")
But the resulting sunrise was awesome:
We weren't the only ones, either. Between people that spent the night up there, and the early morning hikers, there were almost 50 people up there:
Jul 28, 2015, 7:40 am
#26
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Grantham, NH
Posts: 530
Once the sun came up, it was still a fairly awesome view. Here's looking north:
Here's looking south over the Cirque de Cilaos, and, well, Cilaos:
To the west, watching clouds roll over from the Cirque de Cilaos into the Cirque de Mafate:
And looking to the east, at the north rim of the Cirque de Cilaos (that we climbed up to get to the Gite):
And if you zoom in, you can see the Gite far below:
Here's looking south over the Cirque de Cilaos, and, well, Cilaos:
To the west, watching clouds roll over from the Cirque de Cilaos into the Cirque de Mafate:
And looking to the east, at the north rim of the Cirque de Cilaos (that we climbed up to get to the Gite):
And if you zoom in, you can see the Gite far below:
Jul 28, 2015, 9:37 am
#28
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 3,181
Fantastic interesting report.
I plan to go to Mauritius this year. I decided to skip Reunion. I love to swim in the ocean. Apparently they have one of the highest records for shark attacks. That's why I decided not to go.
Tourism has been impacted by this. Here is a link to an article.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/tr...m-beaches.html
I plan to go to Mauritius this year. I decided to skip Reunion. I love to swim in the ocean. Apparently they have one of the highest records for shark attacks. That's why I decided not to go.
Tourism has been impacted by this. Here is a link to an article.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/tr...m-beaches.html
Jul 28, 2015, 9:55 am
#30
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Grantham, NH
Posts: 530
Yeah, the shark attacks were definitely high in the news, including one attack just as we got there.
That said, one doesn't go to Reunion for the beaches (there aren't that many, actually). It is a bit of a surfing mecca, but if you are just swimming? The beaches I went to are well-protected by reefs.
(Conversely, one doesn't go to Mauritius for mountain hiking, either.
)
That said, one doesn't go to Reunion for the beaches (there aren't that many, actually). It is a bit of a surfing mecca, but if you are just swimming? The beaches I went to are well-protected by reefs.
(Conversely, one doesn't go to Mauritius for mountain hiking, either.
)